Spec 944 - How much ballast do you add?
06-25-2019 | 11:06 AM
#4
Race Car
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 65
From: New Orleans/Baton Rouge
Lol, shhhhhh.
Yes, car handles better with fuel as ballast.
How much would be hard to prove out.
Fast lap will come on lap number x(x) more depending on factors (cold psi, surface heat, pace, etc.) related to when tire will reach optimum grip/pressure than the fuel load.
When we have the opportunity to bleed down during an enduro stop (always past the 1 hr mark, so half fuel is gone), fast lap always comes thereafter, so I'd say lightened fuel + back into tire grip window is faster than full fuel and inside grip window.
T
Yes, car handles better with fuel as ballast.
How much would be hard to prove out.
Fast lap will come on lap number x(x) more depending on factors (cold psi, surface heat, pace, etc.) related to when tire will reach optimum grip/pressure than the fuel load.
When we have the opportunity to bleed down during an enduro stop (always past the 1 hr mark, so half fuel is gone), fast lap always comes thereafter, so I'd say lightened fuel + back into tire grip window is faster than full fuel and inside grip window.
T
The following users liked this post:
944Fest (aka Dan P) (06-25-2019)
06-26-2019 | 01:39 PM
#5
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 427
Likes: 30
From: Austin
I noticed the Spec 944 cars has the bumpers on, they look like 50lbs at least.
Thanks
06-26-2019 | 04:21 PM
#6
Race Car
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 65
From: New Orleans/Baton Rouge
2400#
If you mean the metal front and rear, I'd guesstimate 30lbs between the two.
Alternatives don't end up being much lighter after you factor in the supporting structure you have to add in support.
Don't think Sp1 or SPEC944 allows it (is that what you are looking at..?) but best bang for the buck is the factory bumper, bumper shocks drilled, collapsed and tacked, bumperettes shaved, coupled with the GT Racing NA front that is 1.5" lower and 1.5" deeper air dam in place of the factory urethane piece. It's stiffer and doesn't flex as much as the factory part at high speed.
In the back, I shave the bumperettes, fill the holes and modify the end pieces with a stud to hold them in place. I have a row of 1.5" holes across the rear bumper done with hole saw.
Whole rear with end pieces might weigh 10 lbs.
T
If you mean the metal front and rear, I'd guesstimate 30lbs between the two.
Alternatives don't end up being much lighter after you factor in the supporting structure you have to add in support.
Don't think Sp1 or SPEC944 allows it (is that what you are looking at..?) but best bang for the buck is the factory bumper, bumper shocks drilled, collapsed and tacked, bumperettes shaved, coupled with the GT Racing NA front that is 1.5" lower and 1.5" deeper air dam in place of the factory urethane piece. It's stiffer and doesn't flex as much as the factory part at high speed.
In the back, I shave the bumperettes, fill the holes and modify the end pieces with a stud to hold them in place. I have a row of 1.5" holes across the rear bumper done with hole saw.
Whole rear with end pieces might weigh 10 lbs.
T
06-26-2019 | 04:24 PM
#7
Race Car
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,930
Likes: 65
From: New Orleans/Baton Rouge
BTW, can't hurt my feeling, I only build them these days.
Short of filling a spot in an enduro if needed, my on track competition days have come and gone.
That's me in the gray car in my avatar though, going under the red car that also used to be mine.
T
Short of filling a spot in an enduro if needed, my on track competition days have come and gone.
That's me in the gray car in my avatar though, going under the red car that also used to be mine.
T
Trending Topics
06-26-2019 | 04:55 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 427
Likes: 30
From: Austin
How hard would it be to remove 100 lbs from your car? Bumbers, OEM door crash structures, dash, lexan rearwindow?
Looking at it from a Enduro racer perspective, very relaxed rules about weight:
- No Carbon fiber
- 60% of body work
- Don't remove supporting structures (whatever that means)